The Iduran Confederation
' '''The Iduran Confederation is a smaller, less propserous nation made up of mammalian lizards. The government is a confederation of "city-states" -- the independent sectors have a basic over-arching government to settle their differences. It considers itself neutral and isolationist, but is willing to trade. '''Brief History:' Since time out of mind, the Idurans had worshiped the 14 gods. There were always sharp divisions among the believers, as to which god what more important or more powerful, though most agreed that all 14 gods existed. The gods, they said, told them to be fruitful and multiply, and when a mathematician and an engineer designed the Beicl-Hocylict FTL drive that was exactly what they did. All the major factions on the homeworld of Idura sqaubbled over who should build the ships or fund the colonies. There was always fighting and bickering, not least over which god one followed. Each colony tried to one-up the others, by building the highest flagpole, or the most beautiful temple, or the most luxurious palace for their monarch... or the biggest military. The homeworld could barely keep hold of them and keep them paying taxes. Finally, in 2287, a tactical nuke was used on the Iduran Imperial Palace, killing all inside, completely eliminating the entire hereditary royal population, and effectively beheading the Iduran capital government. The squabbling and bickering exploded into outright political, economic, and eventually military warfare. Each religious sect, political faction and individual with a soapbox and loudspeaker blamed another or internal forces on Idura for the "blasphemous and outrageous upheaval of the natural order of things as the gods proclaimed it", as one priest put it. War raged for over two decades between and among every single colony and the homeworld as each tried to assert control. Billions died in the Great Fingerpointing. Eventually, cooler, secular heads prevailed and each of the sectors began to rebuild. A loose, overarching government was formed in an effort to prevent the horrific slaughter from happening again. The first great test for the jurisdiction of the Confederation came in 2356, when a diplomatic starship from Nova Terra arrived in Ojofu and asked to open peaceful trading negotiations. The sector government tried to leverage this advantage to the hilt, trying to become an exclusive point of entry for trade and contact with the humans. The Confederation government's dominance was cemented in great part due to the quick thinking of then Prime Minister Harkon, who almost simultaneously opened a broad videoconference with the monarch of each sector and requested each other member state's military to send their own escort fleet to protect the diplomatic envoy. The Ojofu sector government swiftly "found" it more politically wise to avoid breaking rank with its fellow sectors, and the Confederation's jurisdiction in external affairs was established. The politics of the Iduran Confederation have been complicated and dangerous for centuries, but somehow the Confederation stays together. Each city-state is ever vying for political points, leverage and money, and though there has never again been a military war between the city-states, there is always some tension between them, and the intra-Confederation economic and political warfare can get nasty. Government: The government of the Confederation consists of a single house parliament with a Prime Minister elected from within the parliament; most city-states, however, are constitutional monarchies. Economy: Inter-sector economy is only moderate, as each sector is generally self-sufficient. Tourism is a notable industry. Raw Materials are a major export, and there are some worlds/sectors that are easing immigration restrictions, trying to encourage scientific, economic and technological progress. Systems manufactured by most member worlds are generally known not for their cutting-edge technology but for their ruggedness, durability and reliability even under heavy loads. Species: 60% Iduran, 27% human, 13% other Religions: There is no official, confederation sponsored religion, though a few of the city-states have their own official religion. Languages: Iduran, Standard English. Currency: Mark (or MK for the lazy). Standard SI prefixes are used for fractions or multiples of this. Technology: Lags somewhat behind the galactic average, as with small city states scientific work ends up being compartmentalized. Also, given the Iduran penchant for safety, that also has tempered the rate of scientific progress, though the humans in the populations have been pushing the Idurans along so that they're not hopelessly slow. The tardiness in technology is made up for somewhat in the use of extra-redundant systems, so the ships can take rather more punishment before crippling or catastrophic failure. This is somewhat prevalent throughout the technology of the Iduran Confederation, so overall any kind of technology from this confederation is going to be sturdy (but slightly behind the times), not just the military hardware. Foreign policy: Neutral, isolationist. Military: Due to the state of the politics of the Iduran Confederation, the government cannot come up with the political drive needed to fund the creation of anything bigger than a Heavy ship -- the city-states are just too independent to work together on so big a project. However, due to the Iduran desire for safety, those ships that are produced are strong, durable and fault-tolerant. There may not be many of them, but they easily best the smugglers, pirates, and other local/regional space scum that the Navy normally has to deal with. The same goes for the army -- the army does not take just any volunteer. The males and females in the Army/Marines are professionals, and they are just slightly above average. This also goes for their equipment. The equipment is supposed to be the right tool for the right job, and it's supposed to bring the occupant home in one piece. Bottom line: The watchwords of the military are quality over quantity, and taking a deliberate step away from cutting corners and towards combat survival rates. Does this come at the expense of brutal efficiency? Perhaps. Also of note is that this is, at its core, a police force, not a military force. Though they have experience bringing down small drug cartels, smuggling rings, and the occasional band of pirates, they have not faced an open war or even a rebellion since the Eko Belt Miner Uprising almost 200 years ago. If the Idurans gets in a real shooting war with another major power, massive changes will have to take place. Why the need for a relatively large and well-trained police force? Because apprehending ginger-high gangs of narcotics smugglers is not a task to be taken lightly, and it happens all too frequently. Military OOB Military Total Numbers: Navy: 10 Athenen-class Carriers ($140 - heavy hull) (Generally one per sector) 40 Protector-class Destroyers ($155 - heavy hull) (Usually 5 per sector) 180 Loyalist-class Cruisers ($90 - medium hull) (Roughly 20 per sector) 280 Unity-class Cutters ($50 - light hull) (Roughly 30 per sector) 100 Cairo-class specialist ships ($25 - ultralight hull) (Roughly 10 per sector) 50 Yachts (various tasks) numbers are assuming fighters/gunboats are not included in carrier costs, and represent an 75/25 % split in carrier loadout. If fighter costs are actually included in carrier costs, well, I don't especially care. They're not that expensive. 175 Vulture-class Gunboats 525 Falcon-class Fighters 800 Hyperlight shuttles 800 Regular shuttles Army: Troops Troop Total Troops per dollar Equipment Multiplier Elite Guard 30,000,000 35,000 3.1 Regular 150,000,000 95,000 2.1